Risdon Named for Local Surveyor
Article by Gene Kinn R/t May 20, 2004

Many local residents of Fostoria know that Fostoria was created by the union of two nearby villages, Rome and Risdon. Many also know that Risdon was named after the man who surveyed the hamlet, David Ridson. Few people know much about Risdon, particularly after he left this area.
While doing some genealogy research on the Internet, Fostorian, Marilyn Ziegman "met" Dorothy Alvis of Hensley, Arkansas, and learned that she is the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of the man in question. Through Marilyn, Mrs. Alvis has been kind enough to send me some Risdon family history. To this information, I have added a few lines from a column written by the late Fostoria historian, Paul Krupp, in 1984.
David Risdon's birthdate is in question. It is given in some writings as July 6, 1788. However, in Dorothy's great-grandmother's Bible, it is given as July 12, 1789. In any case, he was born in Rupert, Vermont to Josiah and Margaret Cochran Risdon. The family moved to Saratoga County, New York, in late 1789.
Little is known about David's formative years, but in 1818, he was known to be living with his brother, Orange Risdon, in LeRoy, New York. Both men were government surveyors there, as was their brother, Thomas, in Minnesota. David had served as a colonel in the War of 1812.
David migrated to Oakley, in Seneca County, Ohio, in 1820. Oakley was later known as Fort Ball and is now a part of the city of Tiffin. When the first post office was established in Oakley, David was named postmaster. In partnership with James Worthington, David surveyed the town of Eden in 1820 and Hopewell Township in 1822
in 1824, he was appointed Seneca County surveyor, was elected a trustee of Seneca Township and was also appointed county tax collector. he married Elizabeth Stoner, a widow, in 1829 and they made their home in Fort Ball. Of this union, five children were born.
In the fall of 1832, Risdon surveyed a new village for John Gorsuch,who owned the land around what is now Summit and Countyline streets. The village was named for him. In 1835, he surveyed the village of Attica and in 1839, the village of Green Springs.
When David left Seneca County, in the 1`840's , he migrated to Iowa County, Iowa, t survey land for incoming settlers from Seneca County and other places. he located at Marengo where the wagon train of John Rosenberger, with many others from seneca County, settled a few years later. We know that he was in Iowa County as early as March 7, 1850. He served as county surveyor there from 1850 to 1854 and died while in that office.
Thugs entered his tent and beat and murdered him for the monies and valuable papers he had acquired while in office. they left only his compass and chain, which passed down through the family and is now held by James Risdon, who lives o a farm near Ladora, Iowa. The culprits who murdered him were never found.
William Lang, in his book, "Revolutionary War to 1880," describes David Risdon as, "a tall slender man, who had a head of bushy gray hair, large blue eyes, well proportioned features and stood about six feet high. He spoke with a slow, deep, sonorous voice. With his pants tucked in his high top boots and his Indian hunting shirt, fringed all around, he was the very picture of a pioneer surveyor.
One of David's sons, Henry Baltzell Risdon, who was born in Fostoria, was called, "possibly the last of the early pioneers of Iowa County," when he died in 1920, at the age of 88, His obituary states, "Mr. Risdon was a just and good man to whom a generous share of credit for the present modern civilization of Iowa County must be given. He did his part nobly, in converting a wilderness into one of the finest and best improved counties in Iowa.